OpenSUSE 11.2 Arrives

The openSUSE project took an exceptionally long time to get its current version 11.2 to market. It's been almost a year since openSUSE 11.1.

In the current version, openSUSE comes with the Kernel 2.6.31 especially suited for desktop systems. The kernel is optimized for lower latencies (full preemption and HZ=1000) and developers removed a few features that are normally needed only on server systems, such as the group scheduler.

New installations of openSUSE 11.2 use the ext4 filesystem by default; updates retain the existing filesystem. Installation on ReiserFS or ext3 can continue to be done. A click on the Device Encryption checkbox allows the root partition to be encrypted. Unfortunately the openSUSE team hasn't quite managed to set up the partition module so that buttons are easily legible at 1024 x 768 pixels.

Novell has no plans for updating Grub. Unlike the new Ubuntu 9.10, openSUSE still has the old Grub. However, KDE 4 is now the standard desktop, with a choice of GNOME or XFCE also available.

The openSUSE project warns owners of systems containing the Intel e1000e gigabit Ethernet card against using the actual Beta 1 of openSUSE 11.1 instead of the Linux kernel version. The Linux version can permanently damage the card.

OpenSuse is rapidly approaching the next version of the free Linux distribution with the release of the first beta version. According to the roadmap the final version of OpenSuse 11.0 will be released June 19.